1.Do you recall anything of
the McCarthy era from your own life, or from stories you heard older relatives tell?

2.What elements in modern day
culture and politics mirror what was happening during the Red Scare?

3.Did you learn to type on a
typewriter? If so, which one?

4.Have you ever been haunted
by an idea the way Lucy Lawrence was haunted by the story of Perfect Red? If
so, what did you do about it and what was the result?

5.Were you ever bullied or
humiliated into turning away from a creative pursuit? Consider an elementary
school teacher who told you that you couldn’t write, an art class peer who said
you couldn’t paint, or a parent who told you to “stop that racket” while you
struggled to learn how to play the piano.

6.What is your perfect red
lipstick (or your perfect cashmere coat or your perfect little black dress) –
and how do you feel when you wear it? Can your appearance transform the way you
feel about yourself? Is beauty, then, more than skin deep?